Twitter is most popular English word of 2009
Beats Obama and H1N1 in the annual global survey by The Global Language Monitor
Monday, November 30, 2009
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AUSTIN, USA: It's not just the microblogging sensation; it's the most popular English word too. Yes, the word that has become the 'in-thing of our times', Twitter, has been named the Top Word of 2009 by The Global Language Monitor in its annual global survey of the English language, beating 'Obama', who recently said that he had never used Twitter.
Twitter was followed by Obama, H1N1, Stimulus, and Vampire. The near-ubiquitous suffix, 2.0, was No. 6, with Deficit, Hadron the object of study of CERN’s new atom smasher, Healthcare, and Transparency rounded out the Top 10, said the The Global Language Monitor's website.
“In a year dominated by world-shaking political events, a pandemic, the after effects of a financial tsunami and the death of a revered pop icon, the word Twitter stands above all the other words. Twitter represents a new form of social interaction, where all communication is reduced to 140 characters,” said Paul JJ Payack, president of The Global Language Monitor.
“Being limited to strict formats did wonders for the sonnet and haiku. One wonders where this highly impractical word-limit will lead as the future unfolds,” Payack added.
The top words are culled from throughout the English-speaking world, which now numbers more than 1.58 billion speakers.
The analysis was completed in late November using GLM’s Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI), the proprietary algorithm that tracks words and phrases in the media and on the Internet, now including blogs and social media. The words are tracked in relation to frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets, factoring in long-term trends, short-term changes, momentum and velocity, said the website.
In June, Global Language Monitor had crowned Web 2.0 as the one millionth English word.
The top words of the decade were Global Warming, 9/11, and Obama outdistance Bailout, Evacuee, and Derivative; while Google, Surge, Chinglish, and Tsunami followed. 'Climate Change' was top phrase; 'Heroes' was top name.
The top ten words of 2009, according to Global Language Monitor are:
1. Twitter - The ability to encapsulate human thought in 140 characters
2. Obama - The word stem transforms into scores of new words like ObamaCare
3. H1N1 - The formal (and politically correct) name for Swine Flu
4. Stimulus - The $800 billion aid package meant to help mend the US economy
5. Vampire - Vampires are very much en vogue, now the symbol of unrequited love
6. 2.0 - The 2.0 suffix is attached to the next generation of everything
7. Deficit - Lessons from history are dire warnings here
8. Hadron - Ephemeral particles subject to collision in the Large Hadron Collider
9. Healthcare - The direction of which is the subject of intense debate in the US
10. Transparency - Elusive goal for which many 21st c. governments are striving
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